Apparatus allowing the practicing of physical exercise in the water without translational movement, by means of a pedal mechanism in the style of a velocipede, providing an adjustable degree of resistance and requiring a controlled effort.
Numerous forms of velocipedes and bicycles are known and used to allow their users to travel on land or on the sea. There have also been flying machines or machines which are intended to fly, driven by a pedal mechanism according to the principle used for bicycles.
The device always includes a pedal mechanism driving a toothed wheel or plate, transmitting the movement via a belt or chain to another set of toothed wheels or pinions of different diameters, integral with either a rear wheel initiating the movement along the ground, or with a device for propelling the apparatus in the water. The set of toothed wheels may be selected by means of a derailleur at will by the user. It is often also the case that the pedal mechanism itself includes several toothed plates integral with the pedals for use also at will by means of another selecting device called a derailleur.
All these machines were designed to allow the linear movement of the user on land or on the sea using his own physical force and more particularly by means of the action of the lower limbs on two pedals integral with a toothed plate.
There also exists a type of apparatus equipped with a similar device also powered by the upper limbs such as in tricycles designed for persons with partial motor impairment.
Such apparatus and devices allow the transformation of a circular movement produced by the lower or upper limbs, into a linear movement.
Moreover it is now a well-known fact that gymnastic movements or physiotherapy treatment carried out in the water are beneficial. However, such treatment and movements have until now been practiced without the aid of any apparatus, whereas with the piece of apparatus which is the subject matter of the invention described below, the results are more beneficial and more pronounced.
The invention uses the same principles as used in the velocipedes mentioned above which do not allow a linear movement of the user, but in order to have him exert a physical effort using his lower or upper limbs by means of the apparatus which is the subject of the present invention, without causing him to move.
This apparatus is designed to be used in a swimming pool, or a bath or tank filled with water, as an apparatus for practicing a particular type of gymnastics in the water or as an apparatus for thalassotherapy.
One of the advantages of this apparatus is its ability to be assembled, and fixed rapidly and easily either onto the edge or onto the bottom of a pool, swimming pool or tank filled with water. The bike may also be suspended on a stainless steel ladder or polyester support, on the edge of the pool. Another advantage is the ease with which it can be dismantled, removed and transported.
The apparatus designed to be used under water, does not include wheels resting on the ground, but has a certain number of adjustable blades, fixed onto a rear hub, which may notably be four in number. Preferably, it is entirely submerged so that the rider can pedal in water which comes up to his pelvis. The blades are moved by a pedal mechanism using the force of the user""s lower limbs when in a seated position.
But this apparatus, whilst remaining within the scope of the invention, may undergo some modifications to the frame, the seat and the handlebars in order to support the user in a position which allows him to carry out physical exercise which is just as beneficial with his upper limbs, that is by the arms in a horizontal position and not by the legs in a vertical position as realized and described above.
The water in which the blades move provides the resistance sought after in this effort exerted by the user whether it is for the lower part of the body in a seated vertical position or for the upper part of the body by the upper limbs in a horizontal position.
An important feature is the ability to achieve several levels of resistance, with the aim of improving the effort, range of movement and progression as part of an aquatic fitness program or simply a program of physiotherapy. The blades preferably include a device allowing their adjustment to different angles to allow them to increase or reduce the resistance from water, and therefore to modify the effort to be employed.
It should be noted that the orientation of the blades must be in opposite directions in order to avoid the apparatus from moving to one side.
As a result of the total or virtually total immersion in corrosive water (sea water, water containing various specific products) or in water which may reach 37 or 38 degrees centigrade, the material used for the construction of the frame of the apparatus and the accessories will preferably be nylon, polyester or a thermosetting compound material, but not metal, which would not resist corrosion or oxidation.